Gaming machines, such as slot machines, are a cornerstone of the gaming industry. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the perceived likelihood of winning money at the particular game and the intrinsic entertainment value of the game relative to other available gaming options.
At least some known gaming machines include a video display device to display a reel game that includes a plurality of reels, wherein each reel includes a plurality of symbols. During game play, the gaming machine accepts a wager from a player to initiate a game, and randomly generates an outcome of the game. The gaming machine spins the reels, and sequentially stops each reel to display the generated combination of symbols on the reels. The gaming machine then awards the player an award if the generated outcome is a winning outcome.
At least some known gaming machines provide notifications indicative of a potential winning combination to the player, even if the generated outcome does not include a winning combination. For example, potential winning notifications may be displayed when a majority of the symbols included in the winning combination are present on the stopped reels with one or more reels are still spinning. Known potential winning notifications may include enhanced lighting effects or an extended spin duration of the remaining spinning reels.
Gaming machines display the potential winning notifications to induce anticipation to the player of a winning outcome. At least some known gaming machines display the potential winning combination when a triggering condition occurs in the generated outcome such as, for example, the appearance of special symbols in the stopped reels. Because the potential winning combination appears each time the triggering condition occurs, a player may associate the appearance of these triggering symbols with a non-winning combination. As such, the player may become frustrated each time the potential winning notification appears, which reduces the anticipation induced to player from the potential winning notification.
New features are necessary to appeal to player interest and enhance excitement in order to entice longer play and satisfy demands of operators for interesting games and increased profitability. The present invention is directed to satisfying these needs.